Digital

British teen sells app to Yahoo in deal worth 'millions'

A teenager has sold an app he designed to Yahoo in a deal believed to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

Nick D'Aloisio created the tool two years ago at his home in Wimbledon, south-west London, at the age of just 15.

As with its other recent acquisitions, Yahoo did not disclose how much it is paying for Summly, although British newspapers suggested the deal amounted to several million dollars.

The app, named Summly, reached number nine in the free iPhone app chart last November and offers users a quick and easy way of finding news stories on the internet.

Nick, 17, said he was "delighted" about the deal.

In a message on the Summly website, he wrote: "I am delighted to announce Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo.

"After spending some time on campus, I discovered that Yahoo has an inspirational goal to make people's daily routines entertaining and meaningful, and mobile will be a central part of that vision. For us, it's the perfect fit.

"When I founded Summly at 15, I would have never imagined being in this position so suddenly."

The deal announced is Yahoo's fifth small acquisition in the past five months.

All of them have been part of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's effort to attract more engineers with expertise in building services for smart phones and tablet computers.

Nick, who is studying for his A Levels, will work for Yahoo in its London office. Two other Summly workers will join Yahoo at its Sunnyvale, California, headquarters.